Unexpected
by When the Wind Stands Fair
Summary: Becker contemplates his relationship with Connor and Abby. Set between 3.1 and 4.1. First Primeval story, please review!


_Captain Becker contemplates his relationship with Connor and Abby. Set between 3.1 and 4.1_

UNEXPECTED

Red lights flashed as alarms blared throughout the ARC.

Jess sat at the ADD, rapidly feeding information to Becker and Matt as they ran for the armoury.

Becker lagged slightly behind his boss, muscles still aching from their earlier punishment at the hands of Matt and his EMD.

He could still feel the heat in his face; still feel the blood throbbing through his head. It took every ounce of self control to bite back the groan. He had a job to do.

The silver tasers were lined up against the wall, it took mere seconds to grab the largest he could see and follow Matt to the car park.

UNEXPECTED

Anomalies were the bane of Captain Becker's life; when he was just a soldier, fighting on the front-line with his men, he had prayed for something else. Not that he was bored, not at all, he just wanted something different. Something unique. So when the job at the ARC had become available he leapt at the chance.

Little did he know what lay ahead.

The creatures were cool, certainly different, and the job kept him on his toes. Yet, however unexpected dinosaurs rampaging around London was, it didn't prepare him for his colleagues.

The team, they had told him, were experts. Two had known as much as there is to know about dinosaurs for almost as long as they had lived. One was an expert in animal behaviour, reptiles especially. One was a technical genius.

Becker had taken this description at face value, not bothering to translate.

Until he met them.

Professor Nick Cutter, dinosaur expert. A university lecturer who _really didn't like him. _Cutter wasn't all that unexpected. It was the two arguing _kids_ who turned up late and kept annoying each other that caught him off guard.

Connor Temple, ex-palaeontology student, and Abby Maitland, _zoo-keeper._

Becker was tempted to kick them out, certain they'd taken a wrong turn and weren't supposed to be here.

Except they fitted in. Cutter just raised an eyebrow at Connor's antics and the guards ignored them altogether.

And that's how it continued. Connor proved himself to be the brains of the operation, despite falling for Sarah's story about the sun cage being bad luck. Abby chased the Pristichampus all over London as if there was nothing unusual about it.

Which of course, to her, there wasn't.

The unlikely pair carried on in their unexpected ways.

Connor was arrested for trespassing, only being released after a call from the Home Secretary. A week later he named his new Diictodons _Sid _and_ Nancy_ and took them home before facing down a Giganotosaurus mere days later.

Abby would have attacked the giant fungus with a flamethrower, but only after asking it nicely, yet was completely willing to lay down her life for the wounded Dracorex.

Yes, Becker decided, Abby and Connor were most certainly unexpected, to the point where they would not only _not_ do what was expected, but the complete opposite.

The two were so different from anyone he had ever met that it wasn't until Becker had been working at the ARC for three months that he was told Connor was actually a year older than him.

Despite their differences, Captain Becker grew to trust Connor and Abby. They were young, yes, and didn't have the training of the military staff, but they had something else.

They were trusting and loyal, fierce and courageous beyond belief. It shone in their eyes, bright and intelligent. Connor was hopelessly devoted to her, and anyone who harmed a hair on his head would have Abby's relentless wrath to deal with.

They had guts too. Enough to escape the ARC via the ventilation system when Johnson took over. They took on a pack of terrorbirds with no weapons and no back up, just them, Danny and Sarah.

He remembered seeing them emerge from the bunker, dirty and bloodied but cheerful, pleased with themselves.

He remembered the look on Connor's face as he levelled his gun at him, shock and betrayal. To quote Danny's later statement, Becker thought he was going to be sick. Was it worth it? Should he keep up the charade, keep his gun aimed at his friends backs? Was this what that woman had reduced him to? A backstabber and a betrayer.

Yes. And he swore then and there that he would do whatever it took to remove her from Lester's position. Including pointing a gun into Connor's open, horrified face.

'Are you Johnson's man now?'

No, Connor. And he never would be.

The fear had dogged him all the way back. Would he be forgiven? Would they accept him again?

But they had, because that's who they were. They even teased him, and he had never been happier.

Then it was all ripped away again.

He gave Danny his shotgun and they walked through the anomaly, never to be seen again.

He and Sarah, waiting, gun trained on the glowing portal. Where were they?

They waited for hours, then a bit longer.

They didn't return.

Eventually they went through. If their friends wouldn't come back, they'd go to them.

Except, no-one was there.

Becker recognised the rusty car with the shattered sun roof, still splattered with ant remains. No Connor. No Abby. No Danny.

A ruined bus, broken and forgotten, looking like it had protected its occupants from a massive attack. But they weren't there. No Connor. No Abby.

They found the Artefact, shattered beyond repair. Becker's heart clenched at the sight of it.

The sight in the next room made Becker whimper, although he would never admit it. A Future Predator lay dead in the middle of the floor, blood staining its jaws and talons.

A black shotgun lay next to it, strap broken, barrel dented. It was his gun, battered but still functional. Not that it did _them_ any good. Because they weren't here.

A loud whisper from behind him alerted Becker to Sarah's discovery, still next to the Artefact she'd worked so hard to clean and work out. But no longer important.

Because there were footprints. Four sets.

There was Helen's print, slightly older than the others; dust had begun to settle in it.

But there, Connor's brand new converse. Abby's trainers. Danny's boots.

Disappearing. Becker tracked them several metres before they vanished.

They had gone through another anomaly, and it had closed on them.

They couldn't come back.

Ever.

UNEXPECTED

The next two months had been a blur. Frantic rescue missions, desperate to find the missing members of the team.

One, two, three went without mishap, without results.

But four.

Becker had led it himself. He, three men and Sarah went through the anomaly. She hadn't been allowed before, but she begged and he relented.

The predators were fast and silent, and before they knew it they were separated.

He had run, so fast, so far, her screams echoing in his ears.

Like he, she had taken refuge in an abandoned car.

Unlike he, she was unarmed, a sitting, screaming duck as the monster clawed its way in.

He had yelled her name until he couldn't yell any more. The monster looked up, teeth bared, dripping her blood.

He poured round after round into its head, eyes blurred and half blind with tears.

He was scared to check the car, but there she was. Covered in her own blood, face set in an expression of terror, his name still on her lips.

That was when he broke.

The tough-as-nails Captain fell to his knees and sobbed. He cried, screamed for those he had lost.

Connor: the cheeky, brave, annoying, stab-your-eyes-out-with-a-fork constant companion. The young geek, the genius scientist. His best friend.

Abby: kick-a-dinosaur-in-the-face, hide-a-Coelurosauravus-in-the-flat, fierce, funny, wonderful. He protected her. She protected him.

Danny: kamikaze pilot, Houdini-like escape artist. Reckless, courageous, didn't like taking orders. A kindred spirit.

Sarah: Just Sarah. _His_ Sarah.

He carried her back. Hugged her body to his chest. He laid her gently on the ground, closed her eyes. He looked a horrified Lester in the eye and said two words, his voice heavy and dead.

'No more.'

He handed his resignation in the next day.

UNEXPECTED

The interviews were torture. They asked about them, his lost friends. If he thought they were still alive.

'We haven't found any bodies, if that's what you mean.'

The interviewer's voice was emotionless, professional. Uncaring. Becker hated him.

'Whatever happened to the others, after they went through the anomaly, I don't know. I think about it every day. But I don't know.'

He asked him if he was going to withdraw his resignation.

'I don't think so.'

But the government needed Lester. And Lester wanted him.

The ARC would never forget its losses. But it would continue.

In one form or another.

Becker wasn't sure if he liked the sound of that.

UNEXPECTED

The black 4x4 raced through the streets, dodging pedestrians and commuters alike as it fought to reach the anomaly before anyone else.

Matt grappled with the steering wheel, bouncing over potholes as Becker hung onto the door handle for dear life.

Dear life.

The EMDs were in the foot well, within easy reach. With luck, they wouldn't be needed and the anomaly would be locked without an incursion.

Because he should be so lucky.

UNEXPECTED

The anomaly was, thankfully, in the middle of a deserted square. No-one was in sight, other than Becker's men and...

Becker stumbled to a halt.

Two people lay on their stomachs a safe distance from the anomaly with six EMDs pointed at their backs.

One was male. The soles of his filthy converse were worn down and, although he wasn't covered in muck, there was a general air of unkemptness about him.

The other was female. Smaller than the male with white blonde hair grown out just past the shoulders.

The air seemed thick in Becker's lungs. He knew he must be gaping like a fish as some of his men were starting to give him strange looks.

He couldn't care less.

They were _back._

He stood up straight and began to walk towards the two on the floor. Just off to his right he saw a soldier lock the anomaly. The boy stared in disbelief.

He was on the decking now, his strides long and even. He wanted to run to them, pick them up and never let them out of his sight again.

But he stopped himself. Just.

He crouched by their heads. Both stared at the floor; a survival technique. Making eye-contact draws attention to yourself.

He can't help but wonder what they'd been through.

He decided he didn't want to know.

Because _they were back._

He had rehearsed this moment, the return of his friends.

A speech, just a small one, with no tears, a handshake, maybe a small hug.

But here, now, after a year of waiting, with them in front of him, he forgot.

'I hope you brought me back a souvenir.'

They look up. Connor's dark brown eyes, Abby's bright blue, both full of suppressed joy, hesitant jubilation.

As if they can't quite believe it either.

Becker holds out his hands, and they take them.

Dry hands; rough and calloused. Different to last time he saw them.

But not unexpected.

He pulls Abby into a hug, then Connor.

Just to feel them here, check they're real, they're definitely here, definitely back.

They're thinner, leaner, more wiry.

Here.

Over Abby's head he spots Matt watching, waiting, giving him this time.

'Where the hell have you been?'

The emotion in his voice betrays his relief. His all encompassing happiness.

He finds he doesn't care.

Connor makes a joke, his voice is the same. Cheeky, slightly cracked. Still the same.

But his eyes are different.

They're older.

Even now, home at last, with Abby beside him, they flicker from side to side, hunting, searching.

Threats and escape routes.

He just can't help it.

Abby's older too. Her voice is more mellow, more experienced.

Becker's eyes dance from one familiar, loved, lost, found face to the other and back again.

'We came looking for you. We sent four missions. We tried everything'

Other than the interviews, he has barely mentioned the missions.

Now he's asking for forgiveness.

'It's okay. We're back. And everything's going to be just fine.'

They look at each other, finally daring to believe it.

'We're back.'

'I know.'

They fly into each other's arms as Becker stands back and watches.

Connor and Abby.

Abby and Connor.

Definitely unexpected.


End file.
